The Tattered Dress

1957

Action / Crime / Drama / Film-Noir

2
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 29% · 1 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 29%
IMDb Rating 6.5/10 10 939 939

nevada anti hero crooked lawyer film noir courtroom jury tampering

Director

Jack Arnold Photo
Jack Arnold

Top cast

Jack Carson Photo
Jack Carson as Sheriff Nick Hoak
Curt Furburg Photo
Curt Furburg as Courtroom Spectator
Kenneth Gibson Photo
Kenneth Gibson as Reporter
Gail Russell Photo
Gail Russell as Carol Morrow
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
853.7 MB
1280*548
English 2.0
NR
us  
24 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 1
1.55 GB
1920*822
English 2.0
NR
us  
24 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by bmacv 6 / 10

Pretentious courtroom drama can't live up to steamy opening

By far the best few minutes in The Tattered Dress occur in its swift, provocative prologue. In filthy-rich Desert Valley, California, there's an illicit tryst (where a bodice actually gets ripped); a fight between the adulterous blonde and her jealous husband; and the stalking and slaying of the popular young man who cuckolded him. When a hotshot mouthpiece from New York rolls into town to defend the killer, on the grounds that he was only avenging his wife's rape, it promises to be down-and-dirty fun, like Anatomy of Murder a couple years later.No such luck. The trial is but a plot point, winning lawyer Jeff Chandler not only an acquittal for his client but the everlasting enmity of the town sheriff and political boss (Jack Carson). Chandler finds himself framed for bribing a juror and ill-advisedly chooses to defend himself. To his side rushes Jeanne Crain, playing that most thankless of roles, the loyal ex-wife. Though there's some welcome noirish violence, the movie has aspirations to being a big courtroom drama where Chandler fights for his reputation, his self-respect, and "principle."Turning Chandler into the central character proves a colossal miscalculation. He can't begin to impersonate a legal legend who's been compared to Clarence Darrow; though he sweats and strains to work up a full head of steam in his flat, wide skull, he convinces only the jurors -- never us viewers.Elaine Stewart, as the trampy trophy-wife, and Gail Russell, as the bribed juror, get tossed aside, as does Crain. Only Carson emerges unscathed; once again, as in a long line of supporting roles, he uses his affable, average-joe persona to hide the ruthless schemer inside. When Chandler turns the ripped dress of the original trial into a metaphor for the "tattered" garb of the blind statue of Justice, it's clear that this movie is giving itself airs because it has nothing else to give.
Reviewed by boblipton 6 / 10

Well-Done But Unlikely Courtroom Drama

Big-shot trial lawyer Jeff Chandler gets a client off for a murder in Nevada. The murdered man had been a friend of sheriff Jack Carson. Carson frames Chandler for bribing a juror. When the attorney Chandler and long-suffering ex-wife Jeanne Crain hire begins to talk about plea deals, Chandler fires him and conducts his own defense.It's directed by the under-rated Jack Arnold, who is best remembered for some fine, subtext-laden monster movies of the era. With Chandler's dramatic, rumbling voice, however, it turns into a well-told soap opera, with undertones of danger from Carson, who is very good in his part. I'm afraid I was put off by the slovenly-lawyered courtroom scenes, in which attorneys accepted hearsay evidence without a whimper, and verdicts that seem unlikely. Other cast members include Edward Platt as a reporter whose job seems to be to follow around Chandler, George Tobias as a not-too-funny comic, Gail Russell as the woman who accuses Chandler of bribery, and Elaine Stewart as a rather dumb blonde.
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